Conventionally, there is an information processing apparatus which mounts a microcomputer, a processor, or the like. The information processing apparatus mounts an application to execute a specific function, and the application is generally mounted on the information processing apparatus for each function. In some cases, a plurality of applications (application group) in a single information processing apparatus operate in coordination via communication, using a communication library which mediates a data communication between the applications, to provide a more complex function to a user. Furthermore, there is also an information processing apparatus having a configuration that a plurality of information processing apparatuses are mutually connected via a communication means such as a serial communication cable, a local area network, or Internet, for example, to perform a communication between each information processing apparatus, thereby allowing a mutual provision of the application operating in each information processing apparatus (the applications operate in cooperation with each other).
The case where the plurality of applications operate in cooperation with each other in the single information processing apparatus and the case where the plurality of applications operate in cooperation with each other among the plurality of information processing apparatuses, described above, are the same as each other in terms of operating the plurality of applications in cooperation with each other via communication. A system that the plurality of applications operating in at least one information processing apparatus operate in cooperation with each other using the communication library or the communication means is referred to as an information processing distribution system.
An example of a performance of the information processing distribution system includes a processing speed. The processing speed is used as a barometer, for example, for confirming whether or not a processing speed defined in a specification of the information processing distribution system is satisfied, or for selecting an information processing apparatus or application having a high processing speed so that the user obtains a favorable usability, in some cases.
Conventionally disclosed is a technique relating to a method of evaluating a processing speed and a selection of an information processing apparatus based on the evaluation (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). The Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which an information processing apparatus is provided with a monitoring unit for measuring a state of a calculating resource such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) or a memory, for example, the monitoring unit measures a processing speed, and the information processing apparatus which performs a communication is selected based on the processing speed measured by the monitoring unit.
In the meanwhile, with regard to a method of evaluating a processing speed, a technique of using a Round Trip (RT) time as a barometer is disclosed (for example, refer to Patent Document 2). The RT time indicates a time required for an application to call a function of the other application in such a manner as calling an appropriate API, for example, and then receive the function of the other application which has been called by calling an API for reception, for example. It is necessary for an accurate evaluation of the RT time to cause a communication at a time of the transmission to correspond with a communication at a time of receiving a response to the transmission. The Patent Document 2 discloses a technique of determining a communication to be monitored using a header information of a TCP packet in an information processing distribution system which applies a PCT/IP as a communication protocol between the applications to evaluate the RT time.